Many people who travel or commute to and from work need to carry personal items that are too bulky or are otherwise not suitable to be carried inside a traditional carrying case. Even items capable of fitting inside a carrying case may need to be more easily accessible. For example, many people commute to work by walking some distance, and so wear jogging, tennis, or walking shoes while carrying their dress shoes or work shoes. These shoes are often shoved into purses or attache cases, or carried in the person's hand. All of these methods are both inconvenient and risk soiling the contents of the person's carrying case or clothing.
Additionally, people may wish to carry and have easy access to an umbrella, a newspaper, or similar items while traveling or commuting. There is a need for a satisfactory way to carry shoes and other items, while allowing easy access to all of these items and separating them so as to prevent them from scuffing or otherwise damaging each other or other objects.
Carrying dress shoes in a paper or plastic bag is not a desirable alternative because the shoes are not protected. They may become easily scuffed or scratched because they are not separated from one another. Bags also rip, get holes in them, and are hard to carry. As a result, the shoes are more subject to rain damage, being splashed, or being dropped. Paper or plastic bags also fail to provide a compartment for holding (and keeping accessible) additional personal items such as newspapers, books, maps, reading material, keys, cellular phones, organizers, hand-held computers, bottled water, or other items.
Storage or carrying devices intended to be used in connection with carrying cases are known in the art, but they have various shortcomings. Many of these devices comprise separate compartments that are connected by straps that fit underneath a handle of the carrying case. This results in complicated and inconvenient fastening or attachment procedures. Additionally, many devices are insufficiently secured to the carrying case. Without an attachment component available to secure the device in place over a carrying case, the device slides back and forth over the case, causing damage to the case and irritating the user. A number of these devices also have large, bulky compartments or are only intended to hang on one side of a briefcase. There is therefore a need in the art for a storage device that can easily and conveniently fit over a handle of a carrying case, and that is capable of storing several items separately.
There is also a need for a device that may be used with a carrying case to separate, store, and transport baby accessories, such as diapers, bottles, blankets, pacifiers, etc. Instead of carrying both a purse and a diaper bag or simply a diaper bag with personal items contained therein, it would be desirable to be able to carry a purse, handbag, or other carrying case with a separate diaper storage device so that both can easily be handled with one hand, leaving the other hand free to push a baby stroller, carry a baby, etc.
It is also desirable to have an optional attachment devices for such a device, whereby the device may also be carried alone. For example, a male using the device to transport baby accessories would not carry a purse and would not necessarily carry a briefcase on weekends, but may still wish to use the device. Thus, it is desirable for the device to be capable of being carried separate from a carrying case.
In view of these needs in the art, one advantage of the present invention is that it provides a storage device that cooperates with a carrying case and that provides separate compartments for storage of multiple items. These compartments may be used to store and carry various items, for example, shoes, baby accessories, newspapers, books, maps, other reading material, umbrellas, keys, cellular phones, organizers, hand-held computers, bottled water, or other personal items.
Another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device having at least two separate compartments. In a more particular embodiment of the invention, the compartments are lined.
Another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device having a separate compartment for reading material or other personal items, which is thin, flat, and easily held next to the body.
Another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device with compartments that are adapted to hold particular items, such as shoes, thereby storing and keeping a pair of shoes separated during transport.
Another advantage of a particular version of this embodiment is that it provides a storage device with separate compartments for carrying shoes, the compartments being lined with buffing or satin material so that the shoes will self-buff through the jostling action and movement of the person carrying the device.
Yet another advantage of a particular version of this embodiment is that it provides a storage device that may be used with a carrying case to separate, store, and transport baby accessories, such as diapers, bottles, pacifiers, blankets, etc.
Another advantage of a particular version of this embodiment is that it provides a storage device that has separate lined compartments to store and carry diapers, keeping clean and soiled diapers separate.
Another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device in which end straps may be connected underneath or around a carrying case in order to secure the device and to eliminate any sliding motion of the device on the carrying case.
Another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device that has at least one additional removable carrying compartment.
Yet another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device for shoes or other golfing accessories, such as golf tees, golf balls, a golf glove, etc. that may be attached to a golf bag.
Another advantage of a particular embodiment of this invention is that it provides a storage device having attachment devices that enable a carrying strap, such as a shoulder strap, to be fastened to the device. This enables the user to carry the device separate from a carrying case.